Lighted, animated and everchanging picture arrangement



F. J. MALINA Dec. 15, 1964 LIGHTED, ANIMATED AND EVERCHANGING PICTURE ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec. 11 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1964 F. J. MALINA 3, 60, 75

LIGHTED, ANIMATED AND EVERCHANGING PICTURE ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec. 11, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,160,975 LIGHTED, ANIMATED AND EVERCHANGTNG PIETURE ARRANGEMENT Franlr Joseph Malina, 17 Rue Emile Dunois, Boulogne-llillancourt, Seine, France Filed Dec. 11, 196i, Ser. No. 158,271 2 Claims. (Cl. 4il1fi2) This patent application is a continuation in part of my earlier patent application Serial No. 734,232 filed on May 9, 1958, for Everchanging Picture Arrangement, and now abandoned and certain parts of the present application will be found in the earlier application.

My invention has for its object a lighted, animated and everchanging picture arrangement with illuminated stationary and movable transparent elements on which are formed patterns with irregularly shaped and irregularly distributed opaque parts and variously colored transparent parts, wherein the movable elements are subjected to motion and are illuminated, so as to produce on a screen or a similar surface lying in front of said illuminated elements a pleasant and always changing composition of shapes and colors. The selection of such stationary and movable elements and the manner of controlling their motion may be provided in any desired manner, so that the lighted animated projected picture and its changes may be modified in an infinite number of ways.

I will now describe my invention while referring to a number of embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings by way of example. In said drawings:

FiG. l is a perspective exploded view of the different sections of my lighted mobile and everchanging picture arrangement according to the invention with, in succession, a carrier board equipped with lights, a movable assembly consisting of a circular disc or rotor carrying light and shape modulating parts, a stator carrying transparent and opaque parts, a diffusing screen and an optional layer of meshed material.

FIG. 2 shows the same embodiment in its operative assembled condition in a frame.

PKG. 3 is a lateral view of the carrier board and movable assembly of the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 1 taken on the right-hand side of said figure, with the lights and means for driving said movable assembly.

FIG. 4- illustrates variants of the rotor and the stator of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 shows a transmission between a driving electric motor and a rotor.

FIG. 6 schematically shows for another embodiment the carrier board and the movable assembly consisting of I an endless strip carrying light and shape modulating parts.

MG. 7 schematically illustrates another embodiment of the carrier board and the movable assembly consisting of a board or panel subjected to a compound movement in its plane.

FIGS. 8 and 9 schematically illustrate two other movable assemblies formed by the combination of two rotary coaxial discs with common and separate driving motors, respectively.

FIG. 10 schematically shows another movable assembly formed by the combination of two rotary discs rotating around parallel axes.

MG. 11 schematically illustrates another movable assembly with two movable panels of the type illustrated in PlG. 7 and arranged one behind the other.

FIG. 12 illustrates a complex hexagonal rotor.

Turning to PEG. 1, the lighted, animated and everchanging picture arrangement includes in succession from rear to front, a carrier board 1, a movable assembly comprising a substantially flat rotor 2 adapted to revolve 3,160,975 Patented Dec. 15, 1964 ice around an axis which is substantially perpendicular to the plane of the carrier board, a stator 3, a diffusing screen 4 and, optionally, a layer of meshed material or netting 5.

A special frame may also enclose and carry the different parts, as will be described hereinafter.

The board 1 carries a number of incandescent lamps 7 and/ or fluorescent electric lamps 7a of any desired type. These lamps or lights which produce, as required, white, colored or variegated beams are fed by a circuit the intensity of which may be adjusted as required by any known means, so as to produce a predetermined continuous or intermittent light intensity or else a light intensity varying continuously or intermittently between the same or different predetermined values, according to a predetermined law for the intermittcnces and the light intensity variation. it is generally sufficient to provide a uniform illumination but it is an easy matter to resort to a light intensity adjusting device 8 controlled by a motor 9, such as a switch for diversifying the number of lamps illuminated at any moment, a timing element for providing constant or variable intermittences for all or certain of the lamps or else a rheostat which produces cyclic or acyclic modification in the current which feeds the lamps. Such devices are conventional and well known in the art without necessitating a special description therefor.

The board 1 carrying the lights 7, 7a as well as the rotor 2 and the driving means therefor, together with the means feeding the lights may also carry, as shown at it), reflective devices such as mirrors, prisms or crystals adapted to reflect a more intense light onto certain portions of the diffusing screen 4 located to the front of the arrangement. The board It is provided with ventilating holes 11, preferably near its lower and upper edges, to allow the heat evolved by the electric lighting to be dissipated. Said board is mounted in an outer frame 12 shown in FIG. 2, in a manner such that it may be easily and bodily removed whenever it is desired to replace the lights or other worn parts carried thereby.

The frame i2. is provided with slots l3, l4 and 15 through which are slidably mounted the board 1 carrying the rotor 2 and the driving means therefor, the stator S and the diffusing screen 4, respectively (FIG. 2), while the layer of meshed material is attached to the front of the frame 12. Ventilation holes are provided in said frame, as shown at 16, near the upper and lower edges thereof to permit the flow of air over the lights. These holes are shielded from the inside, so as to prevent any leak of light from within the frame.

To allow withdrawal of any of the components of the picture arrangement described, one of the sides of the frame 12 may be removed in any conventional manner or opened as illustrated at 17, so that one of the inner components of the arrangement may be shifted out and replaced through a sliding movement. It is thus possible to replace the rotor 2 and/ or the stator 3 by other rotors and/ or stators with different patterns.

Lastly, the position of the rotor, of the stator and of the diffusing screen inside the frame may be modified so as to modify correspondingly the character of the lighted and animated picture projected on the diffusing screen.

Said frame is made of wood, metal, plastic material or of other materials and supports the various components described hereinabove While forming a decorative support for the lighted, animated and everclianging picture.

An electric lead 18 (FIGS. 1 and 3) serves for plugging into a supply of electricity and enters the apparatus between the board 1 and the frame 12 to the front of said board.

The rotor 2 positioned to the front of the lights is given the shape of a rotary disc which may be circular (FIG. 1)

or otherwise, hexagonal for instance (FIG. 12), and which may, in fact, be set at an angle with reference to a plane parallel to the board. Said rotor consists of a single member of a transparent or translucid material (PEG. 1), such as glass or a synthetic material such as the one sold under the name of flexiglas, or of a complex device 43 comprising elements 43a of opaque material or materials and elements 4 311 of variously colored transparent material or materials interconnected in any known manner (FIG. 12 C11 the rotor made of a single member a pattern is formed with irregularly shaped and irregularly disposed opaque parts 2a and transparent parts 2b variously colored or otherwise (FIG. 1), while a similar pattern is formed on the complex rotor of FIG. 12 by the irregularly shaped and distributed elements 43a and 43b.

The rotor 2 may furthermore carry opaque or transparent or colored members 19 (FIG. 4) rotating with the rotor, said members being rigidly secured to the rotor or otherwise, for example on the rear face of said rotor as illustrated on said PEG. 4, in registered relationship with the transparent parts 2b, so as to produce further changes in the picture formed by the beams of light projected through the rotor 2. and through the stator 3 onto the diiiusing screen 4.

it is an easy matter to change the rotor so as to provide a different pattern and to obtain thereby a different equence of pictures on the diffusing screen.

The rotor is controlled by a silent electric motor 20 connected by a chain-drive 21 to a speed reducer 22 which drives a shaft 23 on which the rotor is removably mounted by any known means (FIG. 3). The rotary speed of the rotor may be constant or varied by any mechanical transmission defined in the treatises on kinematics. Thus successive decreasings and increasings of the rotary speed may be obtained, as illustrated in FIG. 5, by utilizing a circular sprocket wheel 24 carried by the motor shaft and engaging a chain 25 tensioned by a chain-tightener 26 and meshing with a heart-shaped toothed wheel 27 controlling the speed reducer.

There may be provided several rotors with different irregular patterns arranged coaxially as the two rotors 28, 23a of FIG. 8 and 28b, 280 of FIG. 9 or side by side, preferably in overlapping relationship as the two rotors 29 and 29a of FIG. 10. Said rotors 28, 28a (FIG. 8) are driven in the same direction at the same speed by the common motor Zita, while the rotors 28b, 2550 (FIG. 9) and 29, 29a (MG. 10) may be driven in the same direction or in different directions at the same or at different speeds by their corresponding motors Ztib to 290.

The stator 3 positioned in front of the rotor substantially parallel thereto consists, like said rotor, of a single member of transparent material, such as glass or a synthetic resin such as that sold under the name of Plexiglas, or of a complex device with opaque and variously colored transparent elements similar to the rotor of FIG. 13. On the stator made of a single member is formed or positioned a pattern with irregularly shaped and irregularly distributed opaque parts 3b and transparent parts 3:; variously colored or otherwise (FIG. 1), while a similar pattern is formed on the complex rotor by the irregular shaping and distribution of its opaque and colored transparent elements. This stator defines the basic composition of the pictures obtained and also possibly the color base of said pictures, the shape and color modulation being obtained by the rotation of the rotor or the rotors. It is thus possible to obtain through a change of the rotor or rotors and/ or of the stator an unlimited range of pictures and modulations thereof.

The diffusing screen 4 positioned to the front of the stator 3 is made of a translucent material, preferably frosted glass, or else any other kind of glass or translucent synthetic material, tracing paper and the like. Said screen is adapted to receive the beam or beams of light passing through the transparent parts of the rotor and the stator even upon removal of the rotor, through those of the stator only. The diffusing screen may be uniform or else it may be painted or colored to form a pattern of trans parent colored or opaque portions. A change of diffusing screen will thus lead to further modifications of the projected everchanging picture.

The use of so-called frosted glass or some other translucent material as a diffusing screen prevents the observer from seeing the different parts lying behind the screen and allows diffusion of the light thrown upon it.

Obviously, sections of the diffusing frosted glass may be of a non-frosted type so as to provide completely transparent sections, colored or otherwise.

A number of modifications may be brought to the arrangement described and, in particular, the rotor or rotors forming the movable assembly may be replaced by a continuously progressing endless belt 3i (FIG. 6) made of transparent material on which a pattern of irregularly shaped and irregularly distributed opaque parts 3iia and variously colored transparent parts 3017 has been placed. Said belt is made, in fact, of a material similar to those proposed for the rotor, so as to form an irregular pattern of the same type as that carried by the latter. The belt is carried between two rollers 31 and 32 carried by the carriers board 1a and substantially parallel to the stator, one of which is driven by a small electric motor 33, and moves transversely in front of the lights.

According to a further modification shown in FIG. 7, the rotor, rotors or belt forming the movable assembly may be replaced by a fiat member or plate 34 substantially parallel to the stator, moving in its plane and carrying an irregular pattern which is similar to those of the belt and of the rotor described hereinabove with opaque parts 34:: and variously colored transparent parts 3411.

This plate is advantageously pivotally connected through one corner with a lever 35 substantially parallel thereto and pivotally secured to a stationary point 35a of the carrier board 111, while a second corner is pivotally secured to a further lever 36 substantially parallel to the moving plate and controlled by an eccentric 37 driven by an electric motor 38, whereby said second lever when driven by the motor constrains the first lever to turn around the stationary point 36 in association with a continuous compound angular shifting of the flat member in its plane.

As illustrated in MG. 11, a plurality of moving plates 34514441) may be mounted in superposition or in transversely overlapping relationship and controlled by electric motors 38a38b. The rotor may also be mounted on and controlled through a four-bar linkage.

When the movable assembly, rotor, rotors, belt, flat member or members, is moved into a regular, irregular or intermittent motion with reference to the stator, an everchanging combination of colors and shapes is obtained in the beams produced by the lights and passing through the transparent parts of the movable assembly and stator patterns which gives on the diffusing screen a lighted, animated and everchanging picture comprising illuminated zones with everchanging colors and everchanging outlines which look as moving with a fast or slow motion simulating for example fire works or dancing shapes.

Due to the combination of the diffuse light emitted by the fluorescent lamps and of the diffusing power of the frontal screen, the colored zones illuminated by said fluorescent lamps present blurred outlines with a halo and in said zones light and color mingle. The zones illuminated by the incandescent lamps present sharp outlines and a high luminous intensity. The moving and/ or stationary pattern may be provided with "transparent surfaces such as the surface 39 on the stator of FIG. 1, which are illuminated by the incandescent lamps, and the dimensions of which are so determined that images of the filament of said lamps appear in the corresponding illuminated zones of the diffusing screen owing to an effect similar to the one obtained in the conventional dark room described in any treatise on optics, producing a kind of scintillating striation, which enhances the quality of the picture. Such an enhancement may be obtained by different Ways, for instance by the reflection of the light beams on the reflecting member or members carried by the board.

Another efi cct may be obtained when opaque lamellated elements are fixed by a portion of their surface on the movable assembly and/ or the stator, the remaining portion or portions of said elements diverging from said movable assembly and/ or stator, as illustrated in FlG. 4- wherein such an element 4% is fixed at &1 on the stator 3 and diverges at 42 from said stator. The projection of said element on the diffusing screen presents a sharp contour for the zone corresponding to its fixed portion 41 and a fading out of gradual disappearance of its contour towards the zone corresponding to its divergin portion 42.

Briefly, the spectator of the lighted, animated and everchanging picture formed on the diffusing screen participates in a more or less rapid play, sometimes a particularly delightful slow, fluid movement of spots, lines and everchanging surfaces which move, scintillate and offer a strange artistic quality.

Optionally, a netting 5 may be provided to the front of the diffusing screen i, said netting being made of wire or plastic gauze, a wire woven cloth or the like and it may serve as a surface carrying a painting which is apparent to view alone when no lights are lit inside the actual picture arrangement in order to have an artistic effect during the lighting up of the lights as well as during the extinction thereof. At the same time, it provides a protection for the diffusing screen and forms a supporting texture for the picture produced by the light beams while separating the colored zones, like enamels, and giving the entire work a sort of mobile vibrancy.

It should also be mentioned that the preferably adjustable distance separating the rotor or a similar moving element from the stator is a critical value and should range between approximately 4 and 2.5 in. Similarly, the distance between the stator and the diffusing screen is critical and should be selected within the approximate range extending between /4 and 2.5 in. ,With smaller or greater distances the various characteristic effects, such as blurring, halo, scintillation, striation, fading out, vibrancy, hereinbefore indicated either could not be obtained or would not give an aesthetical appearance.

Various further modifications may be brought to the arrangement disclosed within the scope of the accompanying claims and, in particular, prisms, mirrors, crystals or members of any material and shape may be positioned between the successive components of the arrangment and particularly on the stator or the diffusing screen so as to produce various light and color effects on the diffusing screen.

What I claim is:

1. A lighted, animated and everchanging picture arrangement, comprising a carrier board, a system of lights mounted on the frontal surface of said carrier board, a movable assembly carried by said board to the front of said lights and having at least one essentially flat element made at least partially of a transparent material and on which a pattern is formed with irregularly shaped and irregularly distributed opaque and variously colored transparent parts, a stationary essentially flat element to the front of said movable assembly substantially parallel thereto, made at least partially of a transparent material on which a pattern is formed with irregularly shaped and irregularly distributed opaque and variously colored transparent parts, a diffusing screen of translucent material to the front of said stationary essentially flat element substantially parallel thereto, means for driving said movable assembly into movement With reference to said stationary flat element to produce an everchanging combination of colors and shapes in the beams produced by said lights and passing through the patterns in order to obtain on said diffusing screen a permanently varying picture formed by moving illuminated zones with everchanging colors and everchanging outlines, and a common carrier to which the carrier board with the movable assembly, the stationary essentially flat element and the diffusing screen are removably secured to obtain through a change of one at least of the removable pattern carrying elements an unlimited range of animated and everchanging pictures, wherein the movable assembly comprises first and second coaxial flat rotors, means for driving said movable assembly into movement comprising first and second motors for driving respective rotors, a speed reducer engaging one of said rotors, and a transmission connecting said second motor and said speed reducer and adapted to drive, at will, said rotors into a regular, irregular and intermittent rotary movement.

2. A lighted, animated and everchanging picture arrangement, comprising a carrier board, a system of lights mounted on the frontal surface of said carrier board, a movable assembly carried by said board to the front of said lights and having at least one essentially flat element made at least partially of a transparent material and on which a pattern is formed with irregularly shaped and irregularly distributed opaque and variously colored transparent parts, a stationary essentially flat element to the front of said movable assembly substantially parallel thereto, made at least partially of a transparent material and on which a pattern is formed with irregularly shaped and irregularly distributed opaque and variously colored transparent parts, a diffusing screen of translucent material to the front of said stationary essentially flat element substantially parallel thereto, means for driving said movable assembly into movement with reference to said stationary fiat element to produce an everchanging combination of colors and shapes in the beams produced by said lights and passing through the patterns in order to obtain on said diffusing screen a permanently varying picture formed by moving illuminated zones with everchanging colors and everchanging outlines, and a common carrier to which the carrier board with the movable assembly, the stationary essentially fiat element and the diffusing screen are removably secured to obtain through a change of one at least of the removable pattern carrying elements an unlimited range of animated and everchanging pictures, wherein the movable assembly comprises first and second coaxial flat rotors, means for driving said movable assembly into movement comprising for each rotor, a motor, a speed reducer driving said second rotor, and a transmission connecting one of said motors and said speed reducer and adapted to drive, at will, said second rotor into a regular, irregular and intermittent rotary movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,009,839 Hata Nov. 28, 1911 1,362,284 Gay Dec. 14, 1920 1,796,903 Wheeler Mar. 17, 1931 1,819,217 Watson Aug. 18, 1931 1,851,585 Kliegl Mar. 29, 1932 2,000,153 Watson May 7, 1935 2,094,659 Levin Oct. 5, 1937 2,699,243 Taaffe Nov. 16, 1937 2,891,338 Palamara June 23, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,054,206 France Oct. 7, 1953 1,072,351 France Mar. 17, 1954 731,548 Great Britain June 8, 1955 

2. A LIGHTED, ANIMATED AND EVERCHANGING PICTURE ARRANGEMENT, COMPRISING A CARRIER BOARD, A SYSTEM OF LIGHTS MOUNTED ON THE FRONTAL SURFACE OF SAID CARRIER BOARD, A MOVABLE ASSEMBLY CARRIED BY SAID BOARD TO THE FRONT OF SAID LIGHTS AND HAVING AT LEAST ONE ESSENTIALLY FLAT ELEMENT MADE AT LEAST PARTIALLY OF A TRANSPARENT MATERIAL AND ON WHICH A PATTERN IS FORMED WITH IRREGULARLY SHAPED AND IRREGULARLY DISTRIBUTED OPAQUE AND VARIOUSLY COLORED TRANSPARENT PARTS, A STATIONARY ESSENTIALLY FLAT ELEMENT TO THE FRONT OF SAID MOVABLE ASSEMBLY SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL THERETO, MADE AT LEAST PARTIALLY OF A TRANSPARENT MATERIAL AND ON WHICH A PATTERN IS FORMED WITH IRREGULARLY SHAPED AND IRREGULARLY DISTRIBUTED OPAQUE AND VARIOUSLY COLORED TRANSPARENT PARTS, A DIFFUSING SCREEN OF TRANSLUCENT MATERIAL TO THE FRONT OF SAID STATIONARY ESSENTIALLY FLAT ELEMENT SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL THERETO, MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID MOVABLE ASSEMBLY INTO MOVEMENT WITH REFERENCE TO SAID STATIONARY FLAT ELEMENT TO PRODUCE AN EVERCHANGING COMBINATION OF COLORS AND SHAPES IN THE BEAMS PRODUCED BY SAID LIGHTS AND PASSING THROUGH THE PATTERNS IN ORDER TO OBTAIN ON SAID DIFFUSING SCREEN A PERMANENTLY VARYING PICTURE FORMED BY MOVING ILLUMINATED ZONES WITH EVERCHANGING COLORS AND EVERCHANGING OUTLINES, AND A COMMON CARRIER TO WHICH THE CARRIER BOARD WITH THE MOVABLE ASSEMBLY, THE STATIONARY ESSENTIALLY FLAT ELEMENT AND THE DIFFUSING SCREEN ARE REMOVABLY SECURED TO OBTAIN THROUGH A CHANGE OF ONE AT LEAST OF THE REMOVABLE PATTERN CARRYING ELEMENTS AN UNLIMITED RANGE OF ANIMATED AND EVERCHANGING PICTURES, WHEREIN THE MOVABLE ASSEMBLY COMPRISES FIRST AND SECOND COAXIAL FLAT ROTORS, MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID MOVABLE ASSEMBLY INTO MOVEMENT COMPRISING FOR EACH ROTOR, A MOTOR, A SPEED REDUCER DRIVING SAID SECOND ROTOR, AND A TRANSMISSION CONNECTING ONE OF SAID MOTORS AND SAID SPEED REDUCER AND ADAPTED TO DRIVE, AT WILL, SAID SECOND ROTOR INTO A REGUALR, IRREGULAR AND INTERMITTENT ROTARY MOVEMENT. 